Thursday, 10th July 2008 (1010 views)

A research team has developed a new type of nanoparticle-based procedure that may be used in telomerase inhibitor development, the National Cancer Institute has reported.

Northwestern University's Nanomaterials for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics department has been working on using gold nanoparticles as a means of inhibiting telomerase, an enzyme that may play a role in making cancer cells immortal by preventing chromosomes from shortening when they divide.

The new diagnostic assay system, that researchers hope is accurate and sensitive enough to use in clinical tests, comprise gold nanoparticles coated in short pieces of DNA that bind to the telomerase.

When the DNA is removed via a number of steps, researchers can then use the findings to identify telomerase activity in as few as 10 to 1,000 tumour cells. The assay may be a vital step to creating anti-cancer agents using telomerase inhibitors.

The team was headed by Chad Mirkin, PhD. The Northwestern University department was established in 2005 and focuses on using nanotechnology to develop cancer treatments.

 

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